


Inevitable

by klaviergavout



Category: LazyTown
Genre: Gen, Sadness Abound, after writing this i just want to give everyone in the show a hug. they at least deserve that much, sport is NOT prepared for any of the kids leaving. not at all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-10
Updated: 2017-04-10
Packaged: 2018-10-17 09:57:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10591644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/klaviergavout/pseuds/klaviergavout
Summary: By choosing to stay in Lazytown, Sportacus not only made the best decision of his life, but also the worst.He'd watched them grow up. Now he'd have to watch them go.





	

It was inevitable, he knew, that Lazytown would change, that the kids would grow up and leave him behind.

Ziggy was the first to go, and because of this, the whole town suffered. His mother's hard work had finally paid off; she was now able to buy a house nearer to the city, giving both her and her son many more opportunities for their future. As much as he was excited to go live somewhere new, as any young child would be, it took a very long time for him to make peace with the fact that he might never see his friends again. He left at the end of summer, spending a few glorious days with the others down at the beach before packing his bags and sharing a tearful farewell. It almost seemed, Sportacus often thought, as if he had taken the joy of summer with him.

Pixel next. Sportacus had never once doubted that one day the boy's talent would finally be realised, and so it had. He'd been awarded a scholarship at an incredibly high-standard school of technology, and the entirety of Lazytown, along with his parents, couldn't have been more proud of him. The children were all more than happy to help with the removal of his electronics from his cluttered room, never ceasing to express how happy they were for him, and he'd promised to keep in touch as much as he could; still, Pixel's departure marked the loss of two friends in one year, and the immense feeling of emptiness they left behind was overwhelming.

It was fine for a year and a half. Nobody left. Wounds were barely healing, but they _were_ healing, and it was progress.

That is, until Trixie's mother was severly injured in a car accident, and the whole world turned upside-down.

Now physically unable to look after her daughter, it was decided that Trixie would go live with her aunt halfway across the country- and if Sportacus had thought he'd seen the worst of the children's upset, he would have been gravely mistaken. Trixie was _broken._ It took her weeks to gain back the confidence she'd had, the insatiable want for adventure, the humor and mischief- and even then it was dulled down. And then there was the matter of Stephanie, too- moving away was one thing, but for Trixie to lose both her mother and her best friend seemingly overnight was the cruellest twist of fate Sportacus thought he had ever come across. Still, Trixie managed to keep herself steady- and he made sure to tell her how brave she was, every day, every single day until she left- and soon enough she was waving frantically from the back seat of a car, and disappearing into the horizon.

And then it was Stephanie's turn. Sportacus thought he had prepared for this, thought he had told himself enough times that she would be leaving one day. When she told him quietly that she was going to a good boarding school for performing arts and that she'd miss him so much, he realised he definitely _hadn't_ prepared for this, and the heavy tears seemed to fall on their own.  
  


He hardly remembered their final days together. It was all a blur of pink goodbyes.  
  


It was easier, then, when Stingy left- not because because he cared for Stingy any less than the other children, but because the worst was over. He no longer had to watch as the kids said their final few words to each other, played one last game together, gave hugs that they never wanted to part from. Mr. Spendthrift had, of course, sent his son to one of the highest-scoring boarding schools in the country; after many gently put discussions with Stingy about school stress and expectations, Sportacus came away with a sense of relief that at least the boy _enjoyed_ school and would know to ask for help whenever he should need it. Although he'd firmly told himself not to cry in front of the children again, he was almost reduced to a tearful, laughing mess when Stingy apologised out-of-the-blue for running him over with his car.

And that was it. With Stingy gone, Lazytown was completely free of children, and drastically different. It was lonely, quiet, and far too uncomfortable to be peaceful- more specifically put, it just felt _wrong._

Sportacus could have travelled the world in his airship. At the prime of his health and lifespan, he could have helped thousands of people across the globe, enjoying his life to the fullest- and yet he had chosen to stay in Lazytown.

He had stayed because of the children, because he knew that they had needed him, because he knew the future would be a lot easier with him by their side in the present. Except, he knew now that he never should have stayed. He never should've given in to their asking; he should have left, left like all the other heroes before him, left before his affection was so foolishly given away to children that weren't and would never be his own.

It was inevitable, he knew, that Lazytown would change, that the kids would grow up and leave him behind.

But he never could have guessed that his heart would leave with them.

**Author's Note:**

> Robbie, during all of this, was probably hunched over crying in his lair. If there's anything we all collectively learnt as fans from 'The First Day of Summer', it was that Robbie would miss them SO much more than any of us could ever know.
> 
> Ooh, I feel a sequel coming on.


End file.
